I'm looking to fly with someone in one or both of these, happy to pay for demo flight, expenses, etc. Looking for a good mannered i.e. coordinated, plane with good range and ok cruising speed and factory support and these seem to fit the bill nicely.

Agreed, a fine plane although a little worried about the CTSW landing characteristics, and the new ownership. As a sailor I'm comfortable with good carbon fiber construction, but hard to evaluate damage.

After owning and training people in a CTSW for 11 years (a little over 2K hrs. in CT's) there is no problem with landing a CT. It has always been and always will be the operator and poor technique. High time pilots have been the worse to transition. You have to break all that muscle memory and bad habits. The CT has light controls. You do not need to manhandle it. Small movements is all that is needed. Once you learn in a CT you'll be a far better stick and rudder guy than you were before. Unless you stick a CT in the ground they don't break on their own. More than 360 in the US alone and more than 1800 worldwide. There is a new Flight Design coming out and it is the KLA-100 low wing. The CTLSi is also being delivered in the US. There are nice CTSW's out there for about $58K - $70K. CTLS models go for more.

JAM_MAN wrote:Thanks for the information - will consider. What's the current status in the US regarding parts and service?

Per a recent press release Flight Design has new owners, and has started producing parts and airplane for the US market. Flight Design USA has always done the best they could in supplying parts for the USA.

To me the main difference was my preference for low-wings over high-wings.

CT is actually a better plane objectively speaking as it can cruise faster, you can enjoy 4 inches wider cabin and visibility is very good for a high wing ( certainly much better than Remos GX , a similar German plane ) but ultimately, to me , the main difference was the fact that I prefer a low wing plane ( my case Sting ) - it just feels better, I like the wide-open canopy etc ...

roger lee wrote:After owning and training people in a CTSW for 11 years (a little over 2K hrs. in CT's) there is no problem with landing a CT. It has always been and always will be the operator and poor technique. High time pilots have been the worse to transition. You have to break all that muscle memory and bad habits. The CT has light controls. You do not need to manhandle it. Small movements is all that is needed. Once you learn in a CT you'll be a far better stick and rudder guy than you were before. Unless you stick a CT in the ground they don't break on their own. More than 360 in the US alone and more than 1800 worldwide. There is a new Flight Design coming out and it is the KLA-100 low wing. The CTLSi is also being delivered in the US. There are nice CTSW's out there for about $58K - $70K. CTLS models go for more.

Your experience carries a lot of weight with me. I've found a couple of very nice low hour CTLS and CTLSi models and gathering more info. I'll see you in class in October.